


Reverse

by BSps



Category: Arslan Senki | Heroic Legend of Arslan
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-09
Updated: 2015-10-16
Packaged: 2018-04-25 13:57:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,109
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4963258
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BSps/pseuds/BSps
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Prince Hermes, the prodigal son of the king of Parse, is ordered to capture and bring back in secret to the palace some peasant child, not even he could fathom what Fate had in store for him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

The sun was high in the sky when the lone rider got past the moutain of Baghkuh . The air was dry and there was no wind to freshen the atmosphere. This region of Parse was a vast and arid land, save for some isolated villages built near scattered water ponds.  
The horseman felt his steed slow down and sighed. Even Erandes, one of the most valiant Parsian horse, was tired of their travel. He hoped he found that damned village quickly or he would become as withered as an old man.

Furthermore, weather and travel conditions apart, Prince Hermes was weary of this mission. He had been quite reluctant to leave his ill-ridden father in the palace. The air of this place was so shrouded with the ambitions of every petty lords and masters of Parse that he sometimes found it hard to breath, and wondered how his father would cope with it on his own. He had not been this ill since seven years ago. But the king had been adamant about this : Hermes had to go, alone, and do the job with the utmost secrecy. No one had to know, and an excuse would be found for his absence on the eve of his birthday. Though, why in the name of Mithra did his father want him to bring back some peasant child to the palace, Hermes had no idea.

Well. That was not exactly true, if the Prince had to be honest with himself. There were only so many reasons why a nobleman wanted to bring in secret a child from unknown background to his household. A bastard child. Even if the young man found the idea laughable, he had to admit that it was the most plausible explanation.

As infatuated as his father was now with Tahamine, there had been other women before her, and maybe there still were. Indeed, Tahamine's cold attitude would have led many men to seek a mistress, though the prince doubted his father was one of them. As it was, the prince held no attachment to the new queen. For all her charms, that woman was frozen inside, and he had always hoped his father would realize this. If he took lovers, Hermes could hardly blame him.

Nevertheless, a bastard child bothered him. Would he threaten his claim to the throne ? Why did his father want him back if not to give him a legitimate claim to the royal line of Parse ?  
He dismissed those unhappy thoughts. His father would never discard him in the favour of some brat of dubious origin. For some reason, he wanted his heir to bring back that child, and the prince would abide by his will, bastard child or not. In no way did that make the boy his brother, nor his kin.

The prince gave a quick kick to his horse to speed him up.

***

The village consisted of two dozen small houses, glued each one to another. As he approached, the prince noticed that the few peasants outside had grown silent and had quickly retreated into their homes. The presence of an outsider was surely a rare occurrence, especially of one who sported such a fine attire. Even if Hermes had left his usual clothes to Ectabana, and departed from the city disguised as a merchant, he was more richly dressed than any of the villagers. Most of them were probably sheperds who tried to subside on whatever patch of grass they could find for their flock.

The prince only had to find one of them, a woman called Maeda, who would lead him to the boy. His father had been brief about her description and he doubted he would find her on his own. As he crossed the village, wondering where to begin and where to find a villager who wouldn't scurry away at his sight, Erandes led him near the village well.

His journey across those arid lands had been long, and the woman would not disappear if he rested for a minute. Pulling up the rope, he got the bucket of water and quenched his thirst. The water trickling down his throat felt divine. Erander nudged him with his snout and Hermes reluctantly handed him the bucket. Petting absently the horse, the prince observed his surroundings. The village seemed quite poor, but was well maintained, and looked like every remote village of the country. He sincerely hoped that he had found the right place.

As he was musing on what to do now, some cries resonated in the distance and Hermes turned his head in the direction of the noise. Children were running towards the well, yelling and laughing. They were all, the prince noticed, wearing rudimentary painted wooden mask, and seemed to be playing a game of tag. The prince wondered how they could muster so much energy.

"I am Zamsadar the Wolf Demon, and I will eat you all !", a child yelled.

"You won't, because I will slay you !", another answered before tackling his friend to the ground."And I will marry the Moon Goddess !"

"I don't want to marry...", a third voice whined pitifully."And I don't want to be the Moon Goddess !"

" Hey, who is that ?"

Ten little faces turned to look at Hermes.

The looks he reveiced varied between suspicion and fear. Children were taught very early not to trust strangers. At least, they were not fleeing.

"I am looking for a woman called Maeda", the young man stated," do you know where she lives ?"

" He is looking for Maeda…"

"What do we do ? Mum says we can't speak with outsiders !

"He looks weird ! What if he is a bandit ?"

"He has a horse ! A big horse ! They only have them in Ectabana !"

"Why are you looking for Maeda ?"

"Moron ! They don't have horses only in Ectabana !"

"Brigands have wolf pelts, he can't be one."

"Oy children ! What's happening here ?"

The newcomer was a tall teen, well built with the truculent look of someone who had spent his life doing menial works, the prince thought.

"What are you doing here?", the teen asked gruffly.

"He is looking for Nana, Kousha !" , the Moon goddess supplied.

Kousha frowned and his face seemed to darken.

"Why 're you looking for my mother ?"

"Your mother ?", the prince asked, stunned for a moment.

This rough boy ? His brother ? He told the lie that had been prepared before growing horror could paralyze his thoughts.

"I was tasked with giving her a message from my employer, the merchant Fardin of Ectabana. She should be...expecting me", he declared, his tone flat and neutral.

Maeda's son stayed silent for a moment, eyeing him scrupulously, probably trying to determine whether he was a threat or truly a rich merchant's emissary.

"Well, come with me", he decided. "Mother told me someone was coming. Just didn't expect it to be you. And you too, squirt, you are coming with us."

The Moon Goddess looked uncertainly at Hermes, before she scuttled to the teen's side. She was probably his sibling or cousin, Hermes mused. Nevertheless, she had nothing to do with his buisiness.  
Kousha led them through narrow silent streets to a shack at the edge of the village. He indicated what used to be a barn for Erandes.

"Mother", he screamed, "We have company !"

A figure emerged from the house. She was rather plain and small, dwarfed by her son and the prince. The little girl rushed to greet her and she gently ruffled her hair. She then inclined her head respectfully to acknowledge Hermes' presence.

"I hope your journey has been peaceful this far, my Lord. Please, come inside. We have much to discuss."

***

Hermes accepted the herbal decoction Maeda offered. She had dismissed her two children, not without some scowling and harsh threats of being punished for her son, and they now were alone.

"I hope you can forgive me and my Kousha, your Highness. We do not have many visitors and I think I have failed to instil the laws of hospitality in him."

Although the prince thought that such disrespectful behavior would have cost him ten lashes in Ectabana, he stayed silent.

"I assume you are here to take my boy away. He is such a nice child. It was hard not to get attached to him...Would not harm a fly, even if he sometimes get in trouble with the children of the village. Probably because he is so unusual…"

"Does he know of his lineage ?", Hermes cut her ramblings.

"Oh by the Gods, no ! He is still so young, I never had the heart to tell him that he was not my child ! What's more, I don't even know who his parents were. I am not even certain they were from Parse. No, he doesn't know."

So, this Kousha may not be the king's bastard son ? It would be a relief if that crude boy was unrelated to him.

"As you said, my father asked me to bring him back to Ectabana. The boy...Kousha, must be informed that he is mandated by the King himself to return with me."

Maeda blinked, then stared at him for a second before understanding reached her.

" You are mistaken My Lord. Kousha is my son, born from my previous marriage, and is in no way related to the matter that brought you here. I believe you mistook him for the child you were looking for, albeit Kousha and his brother are as alike as the sun and the moon."

Before Hermes could answer, the woman rose and opened the only door to the small room they were in, before calling for her son.

"Kousha ! Come here boy ! Stop fiddling with that, and go fetch Arslan !"

* * *

The little man sped up his pace, two slaves trailing after him. Fardin would surely scold him if he didn't bring back the goods before the gates closed, and even he didn't want to get struck outside Ectabana for the night. His eyes widened when he saw the crowd gathering at the front gates, which were closed, and the soldiers yelling angrily to equally angry people who wished to enter the capital. Darn those soldiers ! What were they doing, closing the gates at this time, when any merchant doing business outside the city came back inside !

"What is happening here ?", he muttered, annoyed.

"Didn't you hear ?", a young woman at his side murmured, her face pale.

"Heard what?", he replied getting curious.

"The...The King, His Majesty is dead…"

Shock made him numb for a moment. The King was dead. It was not a surprise in itself. Word had been spreading for years now that the sovereign of Parse was very ill. But still, for him to be gone so suddenly… Fortunately , King Osroes had an heir who would take over. And didn't people say that prince Hermes was a very fitting successor ?

"And...and…,they say…",her words were struggling to get out of her throat. "They say the King was slain !"

"Slain ?", the man shrieked, alarmed. "Impossible! No one would have dared incur the wrath of the Gods and of his Highness the prince Hermes by slaying the King!"

Now the woman was trembling and clenching her dress, as if the words he had just uttered were a bad omen.

"But sir merchant", and her voice rose in despair, "they say it is by the Prince's hand that the King died."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is the first chapter of Reverse and I hope you enjoyed! English is not my mother language, so I am sorry if I overlooked some grammatical or syntactic errors.  
> Any review is appreciated!


	2. Chapter 2

Arslan glanced at Kousha. His older brother's mood had been sour since they had brought back the stranger to their house. Arslan didn't understand why Kousha was so distrustful of this man since Nana seemed to know and trust him. More importantly, he wished his brother could calm down and shorten his strides since his own small legs couldn't keep up. He was truly tall, especially compared to Arslan. But then, Arslan thought, he was hardly impressive himself. He was truly small, even for his age and he had always disliked that fact. He disliked it even more today, as it was probably because of his small size that the others had wanted to give him the role of the Moon Goddess. All the girls had be studying under the village's women supervision today and they had lacked a feminine element to their story.

Yet, he thought, brooding, they were many others who could have fit the role. Of course, he was small, and maybe he had been mistaken as a girl by the few merchants who came to their remote village once or twice, but he would grow up to be as manly as Kousha. Nana had said so. And what if his pale appearance matched the description of the Moon Goddess ? He could also have assumed the rôle of the Frozen Demon. Next time, he thought resolutely, he would insist to get away from this rôle.

They arrived to their small house, and Kousha turned around to face him.

« Come here, little brother. This man wants to talk to you. »

« Why Kousha ? », and now Arslan felt a little afraid of this strange man and of why he was the one who had to talk to him.

« I don't know. But you don't have to worry, Mother and I will be there. », Kousha replied.

They entered the sole room of their house. Nana was sitting in front of the newcomer who looked up to lock his gaze on Arslan. His eyes widened slightly at the sight of the young boy, who fidgeted under his scrutinity. Arslan didn't usually fidget too much but there was something perturbing about this man's gaze. He was looking at him strangely, as if he was trying to assess something about him. Otherwise, intimidating glare put aside, the young boy noticed the man's rich attire. It was rare to see such finery around here and his own dusty and dirty clothes suddenly felt uncomfortable. It felt even more uncomfortable since he had not thought to remove the garb the other boys had given for his performance of the Moon Goddess. He had been too occupied at the time, trying to worm out information from Kousha about their strange visitor, to get rid of it.

Suddenly, Kousha, who was standing besides him, began to turn towards the door. Arslan clutched by reflex his tunic, preventing him from leaving. The teenager smiled painfully at him, trying to appear reassuring as he squeezed lightly Arslan's hand, asking him to let go. It will be okay, he mouthed, and left.

Nana gestured for him to sit down besides her and even though she was here, the young boy felt very alone.

* * *

Hermes examined the boy. He had initially thought the child was a girl – hadn't he been wearing girl's clothes ? - and his age and masked face had done nothing to help him discern his gender. But that was irrelevant. What mattered was the boy's age.

When his father had given him this task, he had, of course considered the fact that the boy may not be very old, may even be quite a bit younger than him. Nevertheless, the fact that his father was not in the prime of his life and that he had been married for some time now to a queen most men considered as the most beautiful lady in Parse had strongly influenced him in believing the boy had been born at least a decade ago. Thus, he was hardly prepared to face this kind of situation.

He had carefully planned his meeting with the boy, as he rode towards the village. First, he would of course inform him of his father's wishes. The boy wouldn't be able to refuse and would come with him. Then, on their journey back to Ectabana, he would distance himself from him and interact with him the less he could. Yet, if the boy was too arrogant, he would not hesitate to put him in his place. That had been very clear, and his scenario had become even more believable when he had met Kousha.

So Hermes was very disconcerted by Arslan.

The boy was sitting close to his caretaker and was giving unsubtle curious and fearful glances. He had reluctantly let his older brother go and seemed to want to get away from Hermes the fastest he could. The prince sighed. If he did not want the child to bolt at the first occasion during their travel, he would have to try to appear more...friendly to him. However the task would be far from easy as he had absolutely no idea of how to proceed. Fortunately, Maeda saved him from opening the discussion.

« If I may, my lord, I would like to try to explain to him first the reason of your presence », she asked.

« You may. »

She faced Arslan.

« Listen my dear, I have never told you this, even though you might have suspected, but I am not your mother, and Kousha is not your brother. Five years ago, you were given to me by people who serve His Majesty the King and I was asked to take care of you.»

The boy was looking at her wide-eyed, astonished. In front of his silence, she continued.

« Today is the day you have to come back to your roots, my boy. You are going to leave the village and go back to the capital, you will depart with... »

She stopped as Arslan rushed to embrace her.

« Please don't send me away Nana ! », he cried, « I will be good, I promise ! »

« Arslan ! Please stop ! »

« I don't want to go ! I don't care if you are not my mother, I want to stay here. Please Nana ! », he replied, sobbing, and hanging onto her.

Maeda looked distraught and horribly sad. She tried to shush the child, comforting him in her arms, but the boy was crying heavily. Hermes felt like an intruder.

« You cannot stay here, Arslan. You have duties my child, we all have, to assist this kingdom and the royal line », she stopped and looked pointedly at the Prince, « I will always love you as if you were my own child, but you have to depart. I know you will be well cared for in the capital. You will get away from this misery village, and live happily there. They will provide you with anything you need and you will know your real family... »

« I don't want to ! », he screamed, his voice strangled,.«  And I don't want them ! »

« Arslan, I told you... »

Hermes was feeling very conflicted. This matter had the be settled quickly but he was loath to tear the child from his mother. Yet, leaving the boy to his foster family and returning alone to Ectabana was vain as his father would send other men to bring back the child. In spite of this, a strong feeling of guilt was creeping into him. And that probably explains what happened next.

« … you have to go back to your rightful family... »

«  If they liked me, they would not have left me, and they would be here themselves! », the boy objected.

«  They are », the prince said, and caretaker and child fell silent, «I mean, your family is here. I am here. »

* * *

The moment the words left his lips, Hermes cursed himself. Why had he said those words ? Now the boy was gaping at him and Maeda was looking at him as if he had grown a second head. Well, at least the child had stopped crying and that was a vast improvement. But no, curse that ! Why had he lied ? He didn't know if the boy was related to him. He may not be, and then, if Hermes managed to bring him back to the capital, what would his reaction be in front of the truth? Would he look as betrayed as he had looked when Maeda had told him about his parentage ? The prince felt foolish but he did not want to see that look again on the child's face. Said boy muttered something.

« What ? », Hermes asked.

«If you are my family, are you my father ? », the child repeated a bit louder.

« No. », the prince answered uncomfortably, « I… I am your brother. I was asked by my father… our father, to bring you back with me. »

The boy was still clutching his mother dress and was looking intensely at him. Hermes wondered how he could lie so well under that gaze, but he continued.

« So, won't you come with me ? I am your family, and I will care for you. I promise you. »

After a moment of silence, Arslan spoke.

« If I come with you, I will leave Nana with Kousha only. And Kousha works in the fields and Nana needs me to help at the house. »

« Your father will provide for her a servant or anything she needs. »

«  I will be fine, my dear boy. Kousha and I will manage, here, and I don't want you to worry for us . You don't have to», Maeda added, «I love you my child, and that's why I want you to go where you are supposed to be. Will you not go to the capital ? »

The fierce look that had inhabited the boy was blown in an instant. Now, notwithstanding lingering traces of sadness and some kind of resignation, he looked a bit better.

« Okay », he finally said, « I will come with you. »

* * *

The troop had rode for hours now, departing in the morning following the death of the king from Ectabana, and the moon was high in the sky. The young soldier was aside from the rest of his comrades, who were chatting loudly, tending instead to his horse.

It had been a tedious day, and it would not be the last he would have to go through, as it was going to take a lot of time to find the murderous prince, the kingslayer. The young man wondered for a moment how the captain knew where to go to find the man. After all, no one knew, except maybe the two Marzban and the late king's brother who had pursued the prince right after he had performed his terrible deed, how he had managed to escape the capital. However, the soldier supposed such information was not given to some new recruit such as himself. Furthermore, it didn't matter the means, such a crime could not go unpunished and they had to catch the culprit.

«Hey new guy!  What are you doing here all by yourself ? », a voice asked from the darkness.

One of his fellow soldier had come from behind him, surprisingly silent.

« I am tending to my horse, sir. »

« - Sir ! », he guffawed,  « Come on, don't call me that, I am not your superior and I am not that old either. But you are well-behaved, aren't you ? Come from a good family ? »

« My family has had knightly duties for generations, if that's what you ask. », the young man answered stiffly, « but I have been accepted in this troop after passing the selections like all of you ».

« Don't get angry, boy, I was merely asking for the sake of my curious nature. We are all different here, but we share one characteristic : we have been approved of by the captain. Our ears are resistant enough so that they won't be blown off by the strength of his screams if we do not bring back quickly the head of the fugitive prince. Prince whose fate I do not wish to know if he has to directly face the captain by the way. »

« Murderers always get what they deserve. »

« Murderer? One can wonder if he did indeed assassinate his own father who he was going to succeed to anyway. », the soldier retorted while playing idly with a coin he had just got out of his breast pocket.

« What do you mean ? », the young soldier asked, and stopped brushing his horse's coat.

« I just thought it strange. But my thoughts doesn't matter. The prince must be the culprit or the captain wouldn't go after him. He is a surprisingly honest and righteous man, our captain...And loyal to a fault to the royal family. », his comrade answered, « Anyway, don't tell him what I just said, I would be beaten down for this and I like my fair face too much to see it damaged so soon . »

« I promise I will keep silent. », the young man replied, laughing softly.

« See that you do, and come partake in our festive meal tonight. Most of the company is passable when they are not too drunk. By the way, my name is Jesper. What's yours ? I can't keep calling you boy in my head. »

«I ? Daryun. My name is Daryun. »

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is this new chapter! I find it quite difficult for the moment to write about the interaction between Hermes and Arslan, but I hope you still enjoyed the chapter.  
> And Daryun is back!


End file.
